We all smile for Smiley Honey
- Cheré Dastugue Coen
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
The unique tupelo honey sourced from Northwest Florida river basins is considered ‘liquid gold’ and the folks at Smiley its gold diggers.
She’s as sweet as Tupelo honey
Just like honey, baby, from the bee
—Van Morrison, “Tupelo Honey”
It's late spring and all eyes at Smiley Honey turn to the tupelo trees that line the river basins of northwest Florida. Swamp-loving white tupelos are only found in the United States, and only in this section of Florida and a bit into Georgia.
“This time of year, we’re watching the trees like hawks,” said beekeeper Will Oosthuizen.
The South African native works the hives and sells the results with his wife Wandi at Smiley Honey Tupelo Co. in Wewahitchka, Florida. Their premium product is tupelo honey, considered by many to be the champagne of honey.
“First of all, it’s quite rare,” Oosthuizen said. “It’s a better honey to consume—and definitely better than glucose.”
According to the folks at Smiley, tupelo honey contains beneficial enzymes, is rich in antioxidants that help fight free radicals, has antimicrobial properties that support immune health and the high fructose content is easier on blood sugar levels and provides natural energy without the crash of refined sugars.
Smiley Honey sells varietals such as lavender, blackberry and acacia from Oregon, among so many more, but it’s tupelo that has made this apiary famous. So famous are the trees and bees of this corner of Florida that an annual festival is held in their honor.
The annual Tupelo Honey Festival will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 17, 2025, at Lake Alice Park in Wewahitchka. There will be vendors selling food, a car show, arts and crafts, the Miss Tupelo Pageant, a honey tasting contest and more. Of course, there will be plenty of the gold tupelo honey!
If you want to get to the source of the matter, Captain Matthew Godwin offers tours of the Dead Lakes in Wewahitchka, leaving from Lake Alice Park in his pontoon boat. He shows off the fresh-water ecosystem of the lakes fed by the Chipola River through his company, Off-the-Map Expeditions, but he also offers an up-close-and-personal look at Tupelo tree blossoms.
If you can’t make the festival, Smiley Honey is open year-round selling the premium honey, along with a wide variety of honeys and honey-based products.
If you go
For more information about the region, visit the Gulf County website at https://www.visitgulf.com/.
Weird, Wacky & Wild South is written by travel journalist Cheré Dastugue Coen who adores tupelo honey. The folks at Smiley were so nice to let her get up-close-and-personal to some bees with fellow travel writer Ann Yungmeyer. They both came home with lots of Smiley Honey.
